How are such ICs called ? (Level-shifter + CMOS push-pull driver)

Question

A lot of times I need a circuit like below. Namely, a logic level signal should set a higher voltage (e.g. 12 V) and higher current (few 100 mA, but not Amps) push-pull stage to a hi/lo state at potential frequencies up to maybe 1 MHz. Building this discretely has some pitfalls, e.g. uncertain pull-up time causing shootthrough and EMC trouble. So I believe there are ICs for this, but I can't seem to find anything.

The closest I found are single low-side gate drivers, but these typically aren't rated for continuous current output and hard commutation. They also often seem to be realized with BJTs lacking the reverse current capability of MOSFETs that is needed for inductive loads.

Motor drivers on the other hand don't seem to be available as half-bridges but only as full-bridges.

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

Answer 1

You won't find your topology in an IC for high power because of the lack of protection for shoot thru. This is how CMOS Logic output stages look but by design the RdsOn increases with higher Vdd ratings because the RdsOn naturally decreases with higher voltage. So to reduce the concurrent driver power, the RdsOn must be high by design.

If you recall, the CD4xxx family is rated for 16~18V and the RdsOn is 1kohm at 5V then I recall, 300 Ohms at 12V. So I don't see much practical use for high voltage & high current as it is imposible to not have both drivers on at the same time.

Half-Bridge IC's use special deadtime circuit to prevent simultaneous on condition for the complementary shared Drain outputs and the push-pull complementary half-bridge types.

In short, this topology of a low side drain with pullup to drive two complmentary common source outputs is not feasible where Vdd is > 3x Vgs(th) with an RdsOn in the range of 1 ohm due to self-heating.

Answer 2

So I believe there are ICs for this, but I can't seem to find anything.

There are a lot of new applications emerging for driving MOSFETs with optical isolation and high speed. One of these might suit your needs. In particular, I'm thinking of ON semiconductors FOD8343. Of course, you don't need optical isolation so you gain no benefit from it but, it comes nevertheless. It can handle 100 mA loads all day and has a maximum propagation delay of 210 ns. It's rated for supplies between 10 volts to 30 volts and drops typically 0.1 volts when driving a 100 mA load.

So, this may not be ideal for you but, it gives you another category avenue to explore: -

High Speed Gate Drive Optocoupler